Bush stands firm, as towns mourn

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In the wake of the worst roadside bomb attack on US forces in
Iraq since the war began, President George Bush told the American
people that he was determined to "complete the mission".

But with 20 marines from the same unit killed in three days of
fierce fighting against insurgents in north-western Iraq, a senior
Pentagon general admitted at a sombre news conference that US
forces were facing "a very lethal and adaptive enemy".

The explosion that killed 14 marines in Haditha on Wednesday was
powerful enough to flip over the 25-tonne amphibious assault
vehicle in which they were riding.

"We are seeing different techniques, different triggers and
different ways of making their weapons more lethal,"
Brigadier-General Carter Ham said.

In the past 10 days, 43 US troops have been killed, 37 in the
past week alone. The 20 marines killed were all from an army base
in Ohio, most of them from small towns near the base.

There was blanket coverage of the reaction in the home towns,
with grieving relatives putting flowers and flags on their
lawns.

A grim-faced Mr Bush, who had flown to Texas for the start of a
five-week holiday, said he would continue to resist calls for a
timetable to withdraw US forces from Iraq.

"These terrorists and insurgents will use brutal tactics because
they're trying to shake the will of the United States of America,"
he said. "They want us to retreat. Make no mistake, we are at
war."

There is little chance that Americans are in any doubt about
that after the past week of bloodshed, which has brought the death
toll of US forces to 1820 and no signs of any weakening in the
attacks.

The reaction and body language of senior military officers also
suggest there is little hope that the US will be in a position to
withdraw troops from Iraq any time soon.

Mr Bush said US forces would be withdrawn only when enough Iraqi
forces had been trained to take control of the country's
security.

Recent polls suggest that most Americans do not believe the Bush
Administration has an effective plan for Iraq and most believe the
war probably cannot be won. Mr Bush's approval rating has fallen to
48 per cent from 60 per cent in December.

There were also signs this week that Republicans may pay a
political cost in the mid-term congressional elections next year,
with an Iraq war veteran coming within a few thousand votes of
taking an overwhelmingly Republican congressional district in Ohio
in a byelection.

Marine Major Paul Hackett, who volunteered for service in Iraq
even though he was opposed to the war, cut the Republican share of
the vote from 70 per cent to 52 per cent in a state that Mr Bush
held with 64 per cent of the vote in November.

The Administration still holds out hopes that if the political
process in Iraq can meet the challenging timetable, with the
constitution written by August 15, a referendum held to confirm it
in October and general elections in December, the US could begin to
pull out some troops next year.

But there is growing acceptance in the White House that the war
cannot be won by force and only a successful political outcome
would allow the US to withdraw its forces in substantial
numbers.